TalkTalk reveals YouView numbers

UK service provider TalkTalk had 80,000 TV customers at the end of last year, and said it was seeing increasing weekly take-up of its YouView service. The company has ramped up its capacity to install boxes to 10,000 a week and has initiated a self-install programme.

TalkTalk said eight out of 10 customers were using TalkTalk TV as their main TV service, while seven out of 10 who had upgraded to TV from broadband and phone services said they were now more likely to stay with the company beyond the term of their contract.

The YouView figure, combined with BT’s announcement that it had sold 60,000 YouView boxes by the end of December, has led to reported estimates of overall sales of 230,000 YouView boxes by the end of January, including an additional 40,000 TalkTalk sales over January, an additional 30,000 BT customers and an estimated 20,000 retail sales since launch. TalkTalk’s figure will however include some legacy TV customers from its acquisition of Tiscali, which operated its own TV service in the London area based on its acquisition of Video Networks, while the number of retail YouView sales has not been officially announced.

TalkTalk’s over broadband base returned to growth for the frist time in three years, with the operator adding 10,000 customer in the quarter.